Chelsea Vale dreamed of starring in Lifetime movies, and when she moved to Los Angeles, California and didn’t know anyone, she found solace every morning when she watched the first movie that aired on her favorite channel.
More than a decade later, Weil has starred in many Lifetime films, among other productions. She even produced her own film, “In Life,” in which she played the leading role.
“I used to always say that one day I would be in one of those Lifetime movies,” Weil said. “It was quite surreal to see me actually play the lead role in this film. It definitely came in a vicious circle.”
Vail grew up in Highlands Ranch and began performing as a dancer at the Centerstage Starz Theater and Dance Studio in Centennial. Intrigued by the studio’s theater program, Weil decided to plunge into a new genre of performance art.
She continued dancing as she got older and eventually became a Rapids cheerleader.
While Vail was attending Thunderridge High School, she went on auditions and even starred in the movie Bolden, in which she had a prominent dance role. Weil completed her education on the set.
Weil fell in love with the set while filming Bolden and knew she wanted more.
After traveling back and forth to Los Angeles, when Vail was 17, she moved to California.
“I told my parents at a very young age that I wanted to move to Los Angeles,” Weil said. “As soon as I started booking some of my first jobs, they said, ‘Okay, you can take this leap.’
As she began to take on more acting roles, she worked for various companies and fulfilled her dream of working with Lifetime. During her career, Vale has starred in more than 20 TV series and films.
Weil’s latest film, “Secrets of the Museum,” premiered Oct. 12 on Lifetime.
Although she had seen the film when it premiered at the theater the night before, Weil was still amazed when she watched it on TV with her family.
Weil not only plays the lead character in the thriller, but is also a producer, which challenged her in many ways.
“It was hard because there are a lot of emotional and powerful scenes in this movie,” Weil said. “So to be able to channel those emotions and really give all the scenes everything they needed and try to take the producer hat off for a moment was really challenging.”
Vail said she was fortunate to be able to rely on her team and production partners to help her complete the tasks.
In the film, Weil plays Natalie Freeman, a young woman who has an estranged relationship with her father but returns to her hometown after she graduates from college and her father becomes ill. Despite all this, she eventually takes over the management of the family museum.
The film features many action scenes with her co-star Jonathan Lipnicki, who is known for his work in Jerry Maguire, The Little Vampire and was the little boy in Stuart Little.
Although she loves to dance and act, Weil fell in love with producing.
“I just fell in love with actually being on set and in front of the cameras and how different it is from performing live on stage,” Weil said. “And just the art of how long it takes. You’ll spend the whole day filming something, but it’s only two minutes in the film.”
Weil has produced nearly 30 projects, including horror and Christmas films, and was an executive producer on the 2023 film Johnny & Clyde, starring Megan Fox and Avan Jogia.
Due to the Writers Guild of America strike in 2023, Weil was limited in her work. However, she still has plans as she has four projects that are almost ready to go, as well as another Lifetime movie.
Producing allowed Weil to expand her creativity.
“I just wanted to be able to choose my own stories and create a narrative of what I was actually going to tell,” Weil said.
